Improvement in machine-guns



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Patented May 8,1877.

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a Y @L .TL P. TAYLOR. MACHINE-GUN'.

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Y NveNron wlTNEssss UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES P. TAYLOR, OF'ELIZABETHTONTENNESSEE.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINE-GUNS..

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 190,645, dated May 8, 1877 application filed September 10, 1875.

To all lwhom it may concern'.-

Be it lknown that `I, JAMES P. TAYLOR, of

'Elizabethtom `in the county of Garter and Y State of Tennessee, have invented a new and -useful Battery-Grumof which `the following is a specification:

The subject' of my invention is a batterygun, or machine-gun, designed for military purposes." It-is constructed with any desirable number of barrels-say :fromv tive to ten, or evena greater number-thesame being arranged side by 'side in. a horizontal breechblock." From Vthe-extremities of .this breechblock extends to the rear a suitable frame,

containing the working parts of the gun. Said -working parts consist, mainly., of a series of irregular eccentrics (one for 'each barrel) fixed upon a counter-shaft, and driving, by

lcontact of` their peripheries, a corresponding series of locks or plungers, which serve to load and fire the charges and extract and expel the empty cartridge-hulls.

My invention-consists, further, in the employment of a'peculiar and novel vfeeding device or hopper, whereby' the cartridges may be fed to the gun directly from the paper boxes in which they are pnt'up at the car.- tridge-factory for transportation, thus at once avoiding and overcoming onel ofthe essential objections to all machineguns now in useviz., the handling of the cartridges, one by one, by the gunners, before they can be `made available to the gun.

To this end the hopper is constructed with a back plate, having on its front facela series oi' flanged iingers, forming between them guiding-grooves to receive the anges of the cartridges, and conduct them to the throats through which they are delivered to openings above each loading-chamber at the back of the-respective barrels. The'cartridges aredelivered one by one from each throat by reciprocating valves, having T-shaped apertures to receive the cartridges, and serving todraw" them backward Jon the hopper-floor to T- shaped openings 'in the latter, through which they drop in position in front of reciprocating piangere, by which they are then'carried into 'the chambers'of-the barrels, and there held while tired by spring-pins, which are retracted rig. 12.

by cam-arms on the eccentric disks before re- Yi'erred to, 'saidarms being adjustable to regulate the length of stroke of the tiring-pins.

- The eccentric disks are constructed each 'with two concetric portions tocan-se the reciprocating plungers tc dwellz for sufficientd periods at the forward and backward extremities ot their stroke to hold *the cartridges firmly while they are being fired and discharge the empty hulls. The hulls are retracted from the chambers ot' the barrels by claws, which are operated automatically by switches to conduct them. over the cartridge-flanges at the extremity of the forward movement, and to hold them firmly down on said flanges at the beginning of the` backward movement..- The'sliding-plnngers. and the longitudinal bars in which they work are all removable to admit of dismantling the Agun and to facilitate repairs.

In the' accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of the working parts of a gun illustrating' the invention.

elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the center ot one of the barrels and lock's, omitting the feedvertical longitudinal section of the breech, 'showingtheloch retracted and a cartridge in position to be. driven into 'the barrel. Fig. l1 is a perspective view of a feeding-valve and a device for connecting it with a reciprocating lock, as hereinafter described. Fig. 12 is a front elevation of a cartridge-case, partly filled. Fig; 13 is a longitudinal section on the line 13, Fig. 14 is a perspective view :of a

single cartridgecase. i

Like letters of reference represent-like parts.

l-represents the barrel; 2, the breech-block 5 3, the inclosingf-frame; 4, the cylindricalcas- Fig. 2 is a side bars, being arranged parallel to each other,v

and being separated from each 'other by a little more than the diameter of the head or ange of the 'cartridge to be used in the gun, form, by this arrangement, a series of slots in line with the bores of the barrels, said slots extending rearward from the barrels to the back piece of the frame 3. These slots contain the eccentrics 8 and the reciprocating l plunger-s or locks 9, and format the same time a series of troughs in front of the retracted locks, into which the cartridges are delivered from the hopper above in readiness to be pushed by said locks into the chambers of the barrels.

In the sides of the bar 7, from the cam-shaft' 10 to the front, are cut suitable recesses 11 and grooves 12, for the reception, support, and guidance of the locks 9, together with their extractors. Near the `forward termini of the grooves 12, and lextending to the ends of the bars 7 com menee gradual enlargements of the said grooves 12, the angle of enlargement rising upward, leaving the lower edge of the groove level and undisturbed, within which enlargements are fixed inclined springbars 13, which serve as switches to cause the extractors 14, by means of the lugs 15 outheir heads, to rise and pass over the flanges of the cartridges in their forward motion 5 lbut in their backward motion the lugs 15 pass under the switches 13, thus causing the extractors 14 to be firmly held down on the cartridge-shells while in the act of starting the same from the chambers of the barrels.

Beneath, and parallel to, the grooves 12, and on a level with the bottom of the chambers of the barrels, and extending backward from the same by nearly the length of a cartridge, are small ribs orledges 16, let into the sides of the bars 7, which narrow the bott-om of the troughs sulciently to prevent the flanges of the cartridges from passing through, thus furnishing doors to receive the cartridges as they drop from the hopper into said troughs. The points of the cartridges thus delivered rest upon ysolid doors, extending a small distance back from the mouths of the barrel-chambers.

The ledges 16 terminate or are notched at 52. When the cartridge is discharged and the empty shell retracted the body of the shell drops freely between the ledges 16 and its flan ge through the space 52.

The eccentrics 8, which drive and retract the locksfare solid disks of steel or other suitable metal, and are irregular in contourthat is to say, their circumferences are not ..lescribed from asingle center, but are formed by' a combination of arcs of circles or curves having different centers. This form results from the necessities arising in the movement of the locks, which are, that the locks, on each extreme of motion back and forth, must have a pause or rest, the duration ot' rest on the fori ward extreme being equal to one-eighth of a 4revolution of the eccentric, and that on the back extreme one-quarter of a revolution. The frontpause or rest is to give time for the inserted cartridge to fire, and the rear pause to give time for the expulsion of the exploded shell, and the delivery from the hopper of a fresh charge. These rest-points on the periphery of the eccentric are formed by arcs 17 and 18, concentric with the counter-shaft 10, on which said eccentrics are fixed. The arcs forming the remainder of the circumferential face of the disks are governed by-a center midway between the two rest-points above described. The4 eccentricityvof said disks is just equal to the space through which the locks are desired to move. The eccentrics or disks 8 are provided on one side with the ange 19, fo'r drawing the locks on the backward movement. The locks or plungersfl) each carry an extractor, 14, a firingpin, 20,

spiral spring 21, collar 22, the diaphragm 23,

the stem 24`, constructed with a lug, 25, the

top plate 26, and the yoke, consisting of a dovetailed block, 28, a stem, 29, and a lug, 30, taking over the flange 19 of the cam or eccentric 8.

The cooking-cam consists of a curved arm,

3l, pivoted at 32 to the eccentric disk S, and

resting against a set-screw, 33, by the projection or retraction of which the length of the stroke imparted to the firing-pin by the camarm 31 is increased or reduced, as required. The bottoms of the troughs formed between the longitudinal breech-bars 7 are produced by ledges 16, on which the iianges of the cartridges rest, short shelves 34 receiving the points of the cartridges in the rear of the barrel-chambers. The top plate 26rof jthe plun ger or sliding lock 9 constitutes .a guidingflange for the said. .lock or plunger, and is constructed with a slot, 36, which receives the retracting latch or arm 37 of the hopper-valve 38, which retractng-arm is formed with a down wardly-projeoting point, 39, and is pressed down by a spring, 40. This construct-ion causes the valve-armbto engage automatically with the sliding lock whenever thehopper is restored to its vertical and operative position after being tipped forward to expose the loading-chambers, or for the inspection or removal of any of the parts of the breech.

The hopper 5 is connected to the frame by hinges 41 at its' front lower corner, permit ting it to 'ne tipped forward into a horizontal position, aslillustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, for the purposes named above. The said hopper is constructed with a back plate, 42, which is cnt away at its lower part to receive the several hoppe1-valves. Un the face of the ,ward end of said opening, to receive the cartridge next above 4when the valve isretracted. The hopper-floor 47- has a similar T-shaped v opening, in position to register with that in the valve when thelatter is retracted, and to permit the cartridge to fall directly in front of the plunger or sliding lock 9 when thelatte-r is in its rearmost position. The cylindrical casing 4 is hinged attherear, as shown, and may be fastened in its `'closed position by hooks 48. The shaft 10 of they eccentric disks 8 rests in suitablebearin'gsin the side bars of' the main frame, andinthe breech-bars 7, and is secured' in position by caps 49 and keys 50, so asto admit of the said shaft, with its attached eccentric disks, being removed from thebreech of the gun when required. When these are removed and the hopper 5 tipped forward, the longitudinal breech-bars 7 may be slid out of their seats, so as to completely dismantle the gun in a few seconds. AThe sliding locks or plungers 9 are separately removable from the grooves formed for them between the longitudinal breech-bars while the latterarein position. The construction of the various parts of the gun to be separated or put together at will greatly facilitates and reduces the cost of construction and repairs. The hopper front and door are, in practice, made adjustable, to suit blank cartridges, or cartridges of various lengths and sizes, as described in another application.

The gun is mounted on a swivel turn-table or carriage, and traversed by a screw and a crank in the hands'of the man who trains the gun. 4

51 representsa cartridge-case, whichmay be cheaply made of paper, and is constructed to suit the gun, so that thecartridges may beplaced therein atvthe factory, and transferred' from the case to-the gun-at o rieoperation, thus avoiding the necessity of separate handling. These cases-are preferably-made so as to contain alarge number of cartridges, as illustrated in Fig. 12, and thus feed all the throats atonce.- If preferred,'theycan be made singly, asj illustrated in Fig. 1'4, and

containing a set of cartridges to be supplied to one throat of the hopper;

Operation: The operatic g parts of the'gn-n being in their working position, the guiding-tingersand throats ofthe hoppers 43 44 are filled with cartridges;y The camshaft-10 is then rotated, moving the eccentrics 8, and causing 'a successive retraction ofthe hopper-valves.

Each valve, in its foremost position,receives the lowermost cartridge' in the throat to which it belongs, and, as it is retracted, draws the said cartridge oif the' floor 47 until it Aconnes over the T-shaped opening in said Vfextcnded backward by a shelf, 3481, held np in position by a spring-catch, 34h, and held down, when ngt in use, by a catch, 340. The internal prominence formed by the straight portion of the inner face of the camflange (seen in frontl'of the concentric arc 18 in Fig. 3) serves, when the plunger is in its rearmost position, to draw back the firing-pin for an instant, withits point flush with the face of the plunger, so as to permit the free escape of the cartridgeh ull.

In another application, led simultaneously with this,I describe and claim a machine-gun constructed with aset'or series of barrels arranged in the arc of a cylinder, and with' a corresponding set of valves operated by a carncylinder revolving on an axis parallel with ythe barrels, to feed cartridges from a suitable hopper, and with a recess in the cam-cylinder, to permit the withdrawal and removal of the valves,and with an adjustable hopper-front and hopper-floor, to adapt the gun forring, at will,` either ball or blank cartridges, or cartridges of different lengths.

I claim- 1.'The combination of the breech-block 2 the series of barrels 1,`ar'ranged in a horizontal plane, the sliding locks or plungers 9, and the cams or eccentrics S, carried by a shaft, 10, transverse to the barrels, 4and actg dating the locks or plungers in succession, substantially as set forth. Y

2. The-cam 8, constructed with concentric front and rear portions, to cause a dwell of ythe plunger at each extremity of its stroke,

for the purposes set forth.

3. The cooking-cam carried by theeccentric cam 8, and adjustable t9 regulate the stroke ofthe firing-pin, as described.

4. The breech-frame lconstructed with" r6- movable longitudinal bars 7, 'as and for 'the purposes set forth.

` 5. The bars 7, formed with recesses 11 and grooves 12, in combination Vwith the switch bars 13, plungers 9, and extractors 14, sub stantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination ofthe plunger 9, with Y the lug 30, the firing-pin 20, with the lug 25, and the operating-cam 8, revolved-on an axis transverse to the stroke of the plunger, and

carrying eccentric anges 19 and 31, for operating thesaid plunger and firing-pin, in the manner explained.

7. The combiuaton,with the sliding lock 9, ofthe etractor 14, provided with lugs 15, and the switch-bars 13, to elevate and release A the said extractor, as described.

8. The top plate 26 .of the plunger, constituting a guiding-Bange, and formed with a slot, 36, to receive the retractiug latch or arm of the hopperva-lve, as described.

9. A feedplate constructed with flanged grooves or guides, adapted to receive and draw the cartridges from the casesin which they are packed, and convey them to a. feed opening or openings of suitable character, substantially as set forth.

10. A hopper or feeder constructed with flanges or'grooves for the reception of the cartridges, and divergent throats to conduct them to tlle breech-chambers, substantially as set fort l.

11. The hopper-floor 4.7, constructed with T-shaped apertures to support the cartridges and drop them when drawn back.

12. The combination, with the hopper-floor 47, perforated as stated, of the valves 38, deriving` longitudinal motion from the plungers 9, and operating to transfer the cartridges from the hopper to the troughs in rear of the barrels, as explained.

JAMES PATTON TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

OoTAvrUs KNIGHT, GHAs. J. GoooH. 

